“It’s nothing to do with his preaching, or his message — it’s about not following the rules of society,” said one senior city official, who asked to remain anonymous.

They’re pretty shell-shocked at the city, having battled the pesky preacher for years, with dozens of public complaints filed about Street Church Ministries and its tactics.

First it was blocked sidewalks and signs hanging from city property, and then it turned into a squabble over why Pawlowski needed a blaring speaker system to spread the gospel in public parks.

With each conflict, there was Pawlowski, playing it up for his beloved cameras — and never once explaining why the preaching had to be so publicly disruptive. Jesus managed without electricity.

Last year, the city finally won a Court of Queen’s Bench appeal which ruled Pawlowski’s religious freedoms weren’t impeded by the ban on amplifiers, which rattled windows as far away as Bridgeland.

There was hope it might silence the preacher, who has turned his Street Church website into a predictable shrine to the man he admires most: Art Pawlowski.

But then city hall fumbled the Occupy Calgary protest late last year, allowing anti-capitalist squatters to spend weeks illegally camping in a public park, and then chanting in the municipal complex atrium.

Never one to miss a good publicity stunt, Pawlowski pounced, turning the badly-handled Occupy debacle into an opportunity to “prove” city hall hates Christians.

So he disrupts business in a public building, and he rants when told to quit it.

Offered a chance to hold prayer meetings in the atrium after hours, with a paid permit, Pawlowski has refused — because following rules means no media attention, and no Art Pawlowski in the paper.

It’s actually very easy to get along with city hall: just ask the thousands of Christian congregations who operate around Calgary, holding events in parks and public spaces, without a peep of hassle or publicity.

If city hall is anti-Christian, it’s news to most people in this predominantly Christian city.

But anti-Art Pawlowski?

Possibly. If Pawlowski once had a message for good, it’s been lost — and now city hall is fighting against a man on a personal crusade for publicity.